System and method for providing a printing capability for a transcription service or multimedia presentation

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing a printing capability using peripheral or stand-alone devices are disclosed. In the system and method, portions of a multimedia presentation, transcribed text, or both are output to a printing device. In the preferred embodiment, transcribed text is output to a fax machine by means of a Real Time Transcription Fax Server, which can also interleave other material into the fax output, and/or synchronize the fax output with other devices, such as monitors and speakers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a device and method for printingtranscriptions of meetings, events, etc., and in particular, to a systemand method of printing a transcription on a fax in real time.

2. Description of the Related Art

Transcriptions, whether created by a computer running an AutomaticSpeech Recognition (ASR) program or by a stenographer, are typicallydisplayed on a computer monitor in real time. Thus, when depositions,meetings, speeches, etc. are transcribed, the transcribed text appearsline by line on a computer screen. However, a computer monitor may notalways be available to display the transcribed text in real time.Indeed, even in environments which have computer monitors, they may notbe available for the purpose of displaying real time transcribed text,because they are being used for other functions.

In a similar vein, with the spread of embedded technologies and smallercomputer units, such as palm-tops, the ability to provide portabletranscription service will become more important. But the small screenson such devices are ill-suited for displaying transcribed text.

Therefore, there is a need for additional devices that are capable ofdisplaying transcribed text in real time, as well as a method to providesuch functionality to those devices. In addition, this system and methodshould use a device that is present in most working environments toprovide this functionality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of this invention is to provide a transcription system andmethod that allows the use of a facsimile (fax) machine to displaytranscribed text.

Another aspect of this invention is to provide a system and a method forthe use of fax machines in multimedia presentations.

Yet another aspect of the invention is to provide a system for otherperipheral or stand-alone devices to provide a printing capability for atranscription service or a multimedia presentation.

These and other aspects are fulfilled by the proposed system and methodfor using printing devices for transcribed text or a multimediapresentation is proposed. Using the system and method, a printingcapability using peripheral or stand-alone devices is realized. In thesystem and method, portions of a multimedia presentation, transcribedtext, or both are output to a printing device. In the preferredembodiment, transcribed text is output to a fax machine by means of aReal Time Transcription Fax Server, which can also interleave othermaterial into the fax output, and/or synchronize the fax output withother devices, such as monitors and speakers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be betterunderstood from the following detailed description of preferredembodiments of the invention with reference to the following drawings.In the drawings, the same reference numbers in different drawings denotethe same objects.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a real time transcription fax systemaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the modules comprising a real timetranscription fax server according to the preferred embodiment of thepresent embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the Multimedia Integration Module accordingto the preferred embodiment of the present embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the Multimedia Synchronization Moduleaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the advantages of the FragmentManagement Module according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a drawing of an input dialog box for a user to indicate theparameters of a real-time transcription according to the preferredembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following description of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, many specific items are described, but these details areprovided only for a complete understanding of the present invention, andthus it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the presentinvention can be performed without such specified items or withmodifications thereof. Detailed descriptions of certain items that arewell-known to one with skill in the art are omitted in order that thedescription of the preferred embodiment not be overwhelmed withirrelevant details.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a fax machine isenabled to provide a printout of real-time transcribed text, as well asmultimedia presentations. A real-time transcription fax print server,which can perform the appropriate translations and fax machine commands,receives transcription or multimedia data, processes it, and forwardsthe data to the appropriate peripheral units. In this and the followingdescription, the term “server” is used in a generic functional sense. Inother words, the term “server’ should be understood within theclient/server architectural model—the client requests a service, theserver provides a service. Thus, the real time transcription fax printserver described below may exist as any combination of software,firmware, or hardware. However much of the print server is implementedin software, firmware, or hardware is open to many variations, as iswell known in the art. The clients also may take any form—whether atranscription program resident on a personal computer (PC), astenographer typing into a stenograph writer, multimedia presentationsoftware, etc.

Furthermore, the terms “network” and “computer” are used in the mostgeneral sense. A “computer” is any computing means, from a singlemicroprocessor or micro-controller to a computer system distributed overmultiple processing nodes. A “network” includes any means that connectsdevices, whether computers, telephones, or other devices. Other terms inthe text are also to be understood in a generic functional sense, aswould be known by one skilled in the art.

An overview of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the real timetranscription (RTT) fax print server 100 is connected to an Ethernetlocal area network (LAN) 101. Also connected to LAN 101 is a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA) 110, which has a built-in microphone andresident Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) software, a computer 129,which is connected to a stenograph writer 120 and has a program totranslate stenograph input into text, and a computer 139, connected to acamera 135 and a microphone 130. These devices represent some of thedifferent forms of input that may be used with the preferred embodiment.Each input device has the capability of turning spoken words into text,whether by ASR (in PDA 110 and computer 139) or by a human stenographerwith a stenography translation program (resident in computer 129). Thistext is sent to the RTT fax print server 100, which processes it in sucha manner that it can be output to fax machine 150. The output could alsogo to a fax program on a computer 169, a fax palm device, or an embeddedminiature fax device.

The real time transcription fax print server 100 is not shown asembodied in any particular device in FIG. 1, as it could be implementedin any of the computers 129, 139, or 169, in PDA 110, embedded instenograph writer 120, or embedded in microphone 130. It should be notedthat, although the preferred embodiment uses Ethernet LAN 101, anyconnection between the RTT fax print server 100, the input/transcriptiondevice, and the fax machine 150 could be used. For example, in anotherembodiment, the RTT fax print server is realized in atranscription-enabled PDA, which is connected directly to a fax machineby a telephone wire.

It should be noted that, although it is termed a “real timetranscription fax print server” in reference to the preferredembodiment, the print server does not necessarily translate“transcriptions”, but may deal with graphics, images and the like, asdescribed below. Furthermore, the print server does not necessarilyoutput to a “fax”, but may output to a printer, or to fax emulationsoftware running on a processor. Lastly, the print server does notnecessarily have “real time” input, but may take input from a storagemeans.

Computer 139 is capable of multimedia presentations, and could be usedfor a real time videoconference, a televised speech, or an audio/video(a/v) presentation. When this is used, a participant or viewer withaccess to computer 169 and fax machine 150 will have enhancedcapabilities by means of the RTT fax print server 100. For example, ifan a/v presentation is being given, the viewer could listen by means ofspeakers 160, watch the presenter on the monitor of computer 169, andsimultaneously receive additional text or imagery by means of faxmachine 150. Furthermore, the fax machine, through use of the RTT faxprint server 100, could be used to print out other forms of continuousstreaming data, such as stock quotes or news flashes, while the readeris using computer 169 for other purposes.

Now, a more in-depth description of the modules comprising RTT fax printserver 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. An input/output(I/O) Communication Module 210 is the interface with network 101, thusproviding the capability to both receive and transmit information fromother devices connected to network 101. Connected to the I/O Module 210are Fax Connection Module (FCM) 220, Multimedia Integration Module (MIM)230, Multimedia Separation Module (MSM) 240, and Audio FragmentManagement Module (FMM) 250.

FCM 220 manages the connection between the RTT fax print server 100 andfax machine 150. It may be initialized with one network address for thefax machine 150, but it may be informed of the appropriate fax machinenetwork address by user input or network management programming. FCM 220activates, maintains, and deactivates connections with one or more faxdevices. One of the primary purposes of FCM 220 is to stop the activatedfax device from “timing out”. In normal usage, a fax device receives acontinuous stream of data, and, when there is prolonged delay, the faxdevice considers the communication concluded and times out. For example,in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) T.30 protocol, thedelay tolerance is 3 seconds±15%, or 2.55 to 3.45 seconds, meaning thatthe connection will be terminated on the fax machine side if no data isreceived for that period of time. However, when a conversation is beingtranscribed, there may be long pauses between sentences, or there mightbe a pause as the transcription software or stenographer catches up,which would result in the fax machine timing out.

There are various means to prevent this timing out without necessarilyaltering the transmission protocol, and one such means is described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,790,641 to Chan et al. (hereinafter, the '641 patent),which is hereby incorporated by reference. The '641 patent solves thetime out problem by generating and transmitting delay signals to theconnected fax, thus reinitializing the internal time-out counter andforestalling the time out. These delay signals are transmittedrepeatedly to maintain the connection and can be used with anytransmission protocol, without modifying the transmission protocol. Inthe preferred embodiment, the different delay tolerances of varioustransmission protocols are stored in FCM 220 and are automaticallyselected depending on the connected fax device. The FCM 220 deactivatesthe connection based on signals from the transcription service, such aswhen a stenographer presses a certain button indicating thattranscription has ceased.

Multimedia Integration Module 230 provides the ability to integrateimages or graphics into the transcription data being transmitted to thefax machine. In other words, these images or graphics are translatedinto a format readable by fax machine 150. Using these means, input inthe form of stills from camera 135, computer-stored images, or graphicsaccompanying an a/v presentation could be output on fax machine 150. TheMIM 230 will be described in greater detail below, with reference toFIG. 3.

Multimedia Synchronization Module 240 takes a combined multimedia signalinput, separates out the different types of data, such as transcribedtext, audio signals, or video signals, for separate output devices, andsynchronizes the separate outputs. In other words, the MSM 240 is usedwhen the multimedia output is being sent to more than one peripheraldevice, whereas MIM 230 is used when the multimedia output is all goingto fax machine 150 (or a fax program on a computer).

For example, if a videoconference was taking place where there is videoinput through camera 135, audio input through microphone 130, both ofwhich are used to create a MPEG (Moving Pictures Engineering Group)signal by computer 139, and the computer 139 is also creating atranscribed text, this combined videoconference multimedia signal wouldbe output on network 101. The MSM 240 would receive this signal,separate out its components, synchronize the components, and send themto computer 169 and fax machine 150. Thus, a user at computer 169 wouldsee video output on screen 169a, audio output through speakers 160, andtranscribed text printing out on fax machine 150. In other embodiments,the MSM 240 can be left out of the RTT fax print server 100 in order toconserve space. For instance, if the RTT fax print server wasimplemented in a PDA, which has a limited memory capacity, the MSM 240may be omitted so that the PDA only has the ability to print transcribedspeech to a fax machine or fax program. The MSM 240 will be described ingreater detail below, with reference to FIG. 4.

Audio Fragment Management Module (FMM) 250 keeps data in a buffer inorder to manage the fragments (or phrases) of conversation beingtranscribed. Since most fax devices use single page printers, thepreferred embodiment of the present invention breaks transcribed text upinto fragments in order to ensure that completed fragments appear on asingle page, rather than spread across two pages, which may beconfusing. In addition, the FMM 250 ensures that the output is moreintuitive, and understandable to the reader. The granularity of thefragments may be set by the user or automatically. The granularity maybe small, such as a word, or large, such as whole sentences. Thus, ifthe fragment granularity was set to a word, the FMM 250 would store aformed word in the buffer, determine if there was enough room to fit theword on the current page being printed on fax machine 150, and eitherform feed the current page if the word was too large, or print it on thecurrent page if there was room. Similarly, with granularity set to asentence, the FMM 250 would store a formed sentence, determine if therewas room, and form feed or print to the current page based on thesentence size and the amount of room left on the current page.

If a phrase were the chosen fragment granularity, the FMM 250 wouldbreak up sentences where a punctuation mark was expected, and keep thosesections, or phrases, intact when printing. This may be done, forexample, by using the pauses in spoken speech, as described in “SpeechRecognition with Automatic Punctuation”, C. J. Chen, Proceedings ofEuroSpeech 99, 1:447-450. Other methods of defining fragments uselanguage models, Natural Language Understanding (NLU), etc.

Control Module 260 stores control information and parameters for theoperation of the RTT fax print server 100. Control information includesinput and output parameters and is further described in connection withFIG. 6 below. The Control Module 260 retains information concerningperipheral devices attached to network 101. This peripheral deviceinformation may be collected by Control Module 260 automatically, bysome sort of ping plug‘n’play function, or may be input by a user.Control Module 260 determines whether incoming signals should bedirected towards MIM 230 or MSM 240 based on user specifications.

Although FIG. 2 shows a shared bus 205 for communication between themodules, this is only an abstraction, as the modules may be programsrunning on the same processor, or hardware with dedicated communicationlines.

FIG. 3 shows the details of MIM 230. When the MIM 230 is used, bothvideo and transcribed text is output to fax machine 150. The video maybe any format, whether still pictures, drawings, moving pictures, etc.If the video is in the form of a continuous moving picture, which thefax machine cannot print, the input video signal is sent toContinuous-to-Discrete Translator 310. The C/D translator either selectsor creates still images from the incoming continuous video stream usingcriteria selected either by the user or by the RTT fax print server 100itself. For example, the time interval between “snapshots” should bechosen, as well as the resolution of the image, and the size of theimage to be printed on the fax machine (e.g., 2×2 inches). In addition,other options may be available to the user, such as a cropping ability,where the user chooses one section of the incoming video signal toprint, and the rest of the video data is ignored.

An image buffer 320 stores the next image to be printed on the faxmachine. The image consists of either a still from the C/D translator310 or an image directly input in the incoming data stream. If directlyinput, the image buffer 320 may have to partially reconstruct the imageas it is buffering it. The image buffer 320 awaits directions from anInterleaver 330 before sending the buffered image to fax machine 150through I/O module 210.

The Interleaver 330 interleaves the images between the transcribed textin the fax machine printed output. The Interleaver 330 may rely oninstructions from the user or an external program for appropriateplacement of images, or may provide its own algorithm for splitting upthe text, based on the nature of the incoming signal. For example, theuser may want an image of the speaker to print out after every seventhline of transcribed text. Or an external program might indicate toInterleaver 330 that a particular diagram should be placed in the faxprintout after a particular word in the transcribed text. This couldhappen in the instance that a speaker is showing slides during apresentation. Or the Interleaver (or Control Module 260) may determinewhether to insert an image based on the size of the fragments to beprinted and the lacunae in the speech or conversation being transcribed.

The Interleaver 330 works closely with FMM 250 to properly interleavethe image between the lines or fragments of text. In the case where theC/D Translator 310 is taking snapshots of an incoming video stream, theimage buffer stores a time index associated with the captured stillimage. Similarly, the FMM 250 would maintain a time index associatedwith each fragment. The Interleaver 330 would use these two time indicesto determine where to place the image in the fax output.

FIG. 4 shows the details of MSM 240. First, the combined incoming signalis segregated into its various data types by Signal Separator 410. Datasegregation can be performed by many different methods, and many of theold and new methods are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/137,966, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.Synchronizer 420 is responsible for aligning the a/v presentation on thevarious peripheral devices. If the audio and video data are alreadytime-aligned by the multimedia software resident in computer 139, theSynchronizer 420 receives both data signals and temporarily buffersthem. The time index of the transcribed text being buffered in fragmentform is communicated from FMM 250. Because the stenographer ortranscription program may introduce a delay between the a/v signal andthe transcribed text, the Synchronizer 420 buffers the a/v signals untilthe transcribed text is more closely synchronized with the a/v signalsand then outputs the a/v signals. This synchronization delay time iseither automatically set by Control Module 260 or set by the user.

On the other hand, if the user is engaged in a videoconference, the usermay wish to keep the a/v signals in real-time so that he or she mayinterject or respond in a timely manner. In this case, the Synchronizer420 will not buffer the a/v signals, and there will be a resulting delayin the transcribed text being output on fax machine 150.

The Synchronizer 420 is also capable of synchronizing output to severaldifferent printers or fax machines. In this case, the stenographer orstenographic program would have the ability to add labels to thetranscribed text in order to classify different portions of the text.For example, the transcribed text might be labelled by level ofimportance, with the most important text being output to a particularprinter or fax machine, and the remaining text being output to otherprinters or fax machines.

FIG. 5 shows another function that must be performed by FMM 250. Becausefax machines have different directions of output, the buffering offragments may have a more drastic effect on the printed transcription,which makes the text difficult to read. As an example of andifficult-to-read transcription, fax machine 510 in FIG. 5 prints outfrom the bottom of the page, thus first sentence 515 (‘This directionrequires attention.”) appears after second sentence 517 (“A buffer fortranscribed data is needed.”). Because the sentences are chopped upawkwardly, and the sequence is bottom-to-top, rather than top-to-bottom,reading the transcribed text is counter-intuitive. However, if the FMM250 stores the transcribed text in a buffer, and then outputscomprehensible fragments before starting a new line. For example, faxmachine 550 in FIG. 5 also prints its output from the bottom of thepage, but FMM 250 controls the output so that first sentence 555 (“Thisdirection requires attention”) and second sentence 557 (“A buffer forthis transcribed data is needed”) appear in more easily understandableportions.

In addition, if the stenographer or stenographic program has thelabeling capability discussed above, the FMM 250 may also alter theappearance of certain text or the speed of printing. For instance, ifthe stenographer or stenographic program labels something to indicate itwas said with particular emphasis, the FMM 250 may print that labeledmaterial in a larger font, or in bold, etc. Furthermore, the labelsinserted by the stenographer or stenographic program might also indicateto print a particular phrase or fragment more quickly in order that theimmediacy of highly relevant parts of the conversation is not lost. Thismight be done by increasing the font size, thereby causing the linesprinted per minute to rise.

Lastly, the FMM 250 is also used to overcome limitations of particularprinters or fax machines. For example, in some fax machines, there is acertain amount of time and distance before printed text becomes visible.This would introduce a time lag in following the conversation. To fixthis problem, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, theFMM 250 would add several returns after each printed fragment, so thatthe printed fragment becomes immediately visible.

FIG. 6 shows an input dialog box for a user to input control informationand parameters for the Control Module 260 to control the RTT fax printserver 100. Input 610 allows the user to select the number and locationof the peripheral devices providing the input to RTT fax print server100. Text 620 is for the user to select where the transcribed text willbe output, either a fax machine or a printer, and the location of theoutput device. The output device could also be the port of a computer,where a computer fax program will take the input. Video 630 has threechoices: fax machine, monitor, and other. If fax machine is selected,option box 635 would need to be filled out by the user as well. Optionbox 635 includes an entry box for the size of the image to be printed onthe output page, and a interval time setting for snapshots of acontinuous stream moving picture display. If monitor is selected and theinput video is detected as continuous, the user will have to fill inoption box 637. Namely, the user will have to indicate whether thetranscribed text will be synchronized with the video or not. If thevideo is to be transcribed, the user needs to indicate the amount oftime the continuous video signal stream will be delayed, or let theprogram determine a flexible time delay.

Audio 640 has three choices: computer speakers, speaker system, andother. The computer speakers box is selected when a computer system isbeing used, such as speakers 160 attached to computer 169 in FIG. 1. Thespeaker system box is chosen when there is a separate audio facility,which is not necessarily connected to a computer system, available onthe network. In the preferred embodiment, the locations of outputdevices are not entered in dialog box 600. This is either because theinformation is entered in a dialog box that appears after dialog 600, orbecause the user has previously installed default values that areretained by Control Module 260.

The preferred embodiment described above is for a real-timetranscription to a fax machine. In other embodiments, a multimediapresentation might be recorded on a computer-readable medium, and beplayed back through the RTT fax print server 100 as a continuous stream.In addition, the RTT fax print server 100 may not output transcribedtext or video images to the fax machine, but other types of printedtext. For instance, during an a/v presentation concerning taxes, asample tax form could print out on the fax machine so that the viewermay look at it and fill it out during the presentation. Or during anengineering a/v presentation, a detailed architectural diagram couldprint out for the user to look at and write on. Lastly, although the RTTfax print server 100 is directed towards printing on a fax machine, itcould also be used for providing the same printing capabilities on aprinter.

As was noted in the beginning of the Detailed Description, although itis termed a “real time transcription fax print server” in reference tothe preferred embodiment, the print server according to the presentinvention does not necessarily translate “transcriptions”, but may dealwith graphics, images and the like, as has been described above.Furthermore, the print server according to the present invention doesnot necessarily output to a “fax”, but may output to a printer, or tofax emulation software running on a processor. Lastly, the print serveraccording to the present invention does not necessarily have “real time”input, but may take input from a storage means.

While the present invention has been described with respect to a certainpreferred embodiment, it should be understood that the invention is notlimited to these particular embodiments, but, on the contrary, theinvention is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

1-17. (canceled)
 18. A system for providing a printing capability for amultimedia presentation, comprising: a printing means; at least onedisplay means for displaying a video signal from the multimediapresentation; at least one speaker for playing an audio signal of themultimedia presentation; and a real time multimedia (RTM) print server;wherein said RTM print server receives data output from said multimediapresentation and translates it into a format compatible with saidprinting means.
 19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein themultimedia presentation is played back from a computer-readable medium.20. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the multimediapresentation is broadcast in real time.
 21. The system as recited inclaim 18, wherein the RTM print server comprises: an Input/Output (I/O)communication module for providing an interface with the multimediapresentation and the printing means; a Fax Connection Module formaintaining an active connection with the printing means; a MultimediaIntegration Module (MIM) for integrating video, images, or graphics intooutput on the printing means; a Multimedia Synchronization Module (MSM)for synchronizing multimedia signals with output on the printing means;and a Control Module for controlling a printing process, for directingsignals to either the MSM or MIM, for storing user preferences, and forstoring information about at least one printing means.
 22. The system asrecited in claim 21, wherein a transcription service for producingtranscribed text is provided with the multimedia presentation, the RTMprint server further comprising: an Audio Fragment Management Module(FMM) for buffering transcribed text into fragments and sending saidfragments to be printed on the printing means; wherein said MIMintegrates transcribed text into output on the printing means; andwherein said MSM synchronizes transcribed text which is output on theprinting means with other signals.
 23. The system as recited in claim21, wherein the printing means is a fax machine, and the FaxCommunication Module maintains an active communication link by sendingdelay frames to the fax machine.
 24. The system as recited in claim 22,wherein the MIM comprises: a Continuous-to-Discrete (C/D) Translator forreceiving a continuously streaming video signal, for creating stillimages based on C/D Translator criteria, and for outputting said stillimages to an Image Buffer; the Image Buffer for receiving still images,graphics, or diagrams, for storing said still images, graphics, ordiagrams, and for outputting said still images, graphics, or diagrams tothe printing means when an Interleaver directs it to do so; and theInterleaver for interleaving still images, graphics, or diagrams betweentranscribed text on the printing means by directing the Image Bufferwhen to send still images, graphics, or diagrams to the printing meansand by receiving transmission information from the FMM; wherein said C/DTranslator criteria comprises at least one of a time interval betweensnapshots, a location to crop a smaller still image inside a videoimage, a resolution for the still image, and a printed size for thestill image on output from the printing means.
 25. The system as recitedin claim 22, wherein the MSM comprises: a Signal Separator forseparating out an audio and a video signal from a multimedia inputsignal; and a Synchronizer for receiving said separated audio and videosignals, for time-aligning, if necessary, said separated audio and videosignals, and for synchronizing said separated audio and video signalswith transcribed text output from the FMM.
 26. The system as recited inclaim 22, wherein the granularity of fragments buffered by the FMM isadjustable, and ranges from words to complete sentences; and furtherwherein the FMM keeps each fragment whole on a single page.
 27. Thesystem as recited in claim 18, wherein the at least one display meanscomprises at least one of a computer monitor, a television screen, aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA) display, and a display in an embeddeddevice.
 28. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the output fromsaid multimedia presentation, which is translated by the RTM printserver into a format compatible with said printing means, comprises atleast one of: an image, graphic, or diagram accompanying the multimediapresentation; a form to be filled out by a user in concert with themultimedia presentation; a test to be taken by a user in concert withthe multimedia presentation; and material on which a user is to makenotations in concert with the multimedia presentation.
 29. The system asrecited in claim 21, wherein the Control Module has a Graphical UserInterface (GUI) module which provides a graphical interface on adisplay, wherein the GUI allows a user to input control parameters andpreferences concerning real-time transcription. 30-39. (canceled)
 40. Amethod for providing a printing capability for a multimediapresentation, comprising the steps of: receiving information concerningat least one printing means; receiving a user's instructions andparameters concerning a multimedia presentation; receiving output fromthe multimedia presentation; translating the output into a formatcompatible with the at least one printing means; and maintaining anactive connection with the at least one printing means.
 41. The methodas recited in claim 40, wherein the multimedia presentation is broadcastin real time.
 42. The method as recited in claim 40, wherein themultimedia presentation is played back from a computer-readable medium.43. The method as recited in claim 40, wherein the translating stepcomprises the sub-step of: integrating video, images, or graphics intowith transcribed text output from a transcription service on the atleast one printing means.
 44. The method as recited in claim 40, whereinthe translating step comprising the sub-step of: synchronizingmultimedia signals with the multimedia output on the at least oneprinting means.
 45. The method as recited in claim 40, wherein themaintaining an active connection with the at least one printing meansstep comprises the sub-step of: maintaining an active communication linkby sending delay frames to the at least one printing means.
 46. Themethod as recited in claim 43, wherein the integrating sub-stepcomprises the steps of: receiving a continuously streaming video signal;creating still images from the continuously streaming video signal basedon still image criteria; outputting said still images to an ImageBuffer; storing still images, graphics, or diagrams in an Image Buffer;interleaving stored still images, graphics, or diagrams betweentranscribed text as output on the at least one printing means; whereinsaid still image criteria comprises at least one of a time intervalbetween still images, a location to crop a smaller still image inside avideo image, a resolution for the still image, and a printed size forthe still image in output from the printing means.
 47. The method asrecited in claim 44, wherein the synchronizing sub-step comprises thesteps of: separating out an audio and a video signal from a multimediainput signal; time-aligning, if necessary, said separated audio andvideo signals; and synchronizing said separated audio and video signalswith transcribed text in output from the at least one printing means.48. The method as recited in claim 43, wherein a transcription serviceis provided with the multimedia presentation, the method furthercomprising the steps of: buffering transcribed text into fragments; andsending said fragments to be printed on the at least one printing means;wherein said integrating step integrates transcribed text into output onthe printing means.
 49. The method as recited in claim 44, wherein atranscription service is provided with the multimedia presentation, themethod further comprising the steps of: buffering transcribed text intofragments; and sending said fragments to be printed on the at least oneprinting means; wherein said synchronizing step synchronizes transcribedtext with output on the printing means.
 50. The method as recited inclaim 40, further comprising the steps of: displaying a video signalfrom a multimedia presentation on at least one displaying means; andplaying an audio signal of the multimedia presentation on at least onespeaker; wherein the transcription is part of said multimediapresentation; and wherein the at least one displaying means comprises atleast one of a computer monitor, a television screen, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA) display, and a display in an embedded device.
 51. Themethod as recited in claim 40, wherein the output from said multimediapresentation, which is translated into a form that is compatible withsaid printing means, comprises at least one of: an image, graphic, ordiagram accompanying the multimedia presentation; a form to be filledout by a user in concert with the multimedia presentation; a test to betaken by a user in concert with the multimedia presentation; andmaterial on which a user is to make notations in concert with themultimedia presentation.
 52. The method as recited in claim 40, furthercomprising the step of: providing a Graphical User Interface (GUI) on adisplay, said GUI allowing a user to input control parameters andpreferences concerning the multimedia presentation. 53-62. (canceled)63. A computer system for providing a printing capability for amultimedia presentation, the computer system comprising: at least onecomputer-readable medium including: code that receives informationconcerning at least one printing means; code that receives a user'sinstructions and parameters concerning a multimedia presentation; codethat receives output from the multimedia presentation; code thattranslates the output into a format compatible with the at least oneprinting means; and code that maintains an active connection with the atleast one printing means.
 64. The computer system as recited in claim63, wherein the multimedia presentation is broadcast in real time. 65.The computer system as recited in claim 63, wherein the multimediapresentation is played back from at least one computer-readable medium.66. The computer system as recited in claim 63, wherein the code thattranslates comprises: code that integrates video, images, or graphicsinto the multimedia output on the at least one printing means.
 67. Thecomputer system as recited in claim 63, wherein the code that translatescomprises: code that synchronizes multimedia signals with the multimediaoutput on the at least one printing means.
 68. The computer system asrecited in claim 63, wherein the code that maintains an activeconnection with the at least one printing means step comprises: codethat maintains an active communication link by sending delay frames tothe at least one printing means.
 69. The computer system as recited inclaim 66, wherein the code that integrates comprises: code that receivesa continuously streaming video signal; code that creates still imagesfrom the continuously streaming video signal based on still imagecriteria; code that outputs said still images to an Image Buffer; codethat stores still images, graphics, or diagrams in an Image Buffer; codethat interleaves stored still images, graphics, or diagrams betweentranscribed text as output on the at least one printing means; whereinsaid still image criteria comprises at least one of a time intervalbetween still images, a location to crop a smaller still image inside avideo image, a resolution for the still image, and a printed size forthe still image in output from the printing means.
 70. The computersystem as recited in claim 67, wherein the code that synchronizescomprises: code that separates out an audio and a video signal from amultimedia input signal; code that time-aligns, if necessary, saidseparated audio and video signals; and code that synchronizes saidseparated audio and video signals with transcribed text in output fromthe at least one printing means.
 71. The computer system as recited inclaim 63, wherein a transcription service is provided with themultimedia presentation, further comprising: at least onecomputer-readable medium including: code that buffers transcribed textinto fragments; code that sends said fragments to be printed on the atleast one printing means; and code that receives a user's instructionsand parameters concerning a multimedia presentation; wherein saidintegrating code integrates transcribed text into output on the printingmeans.
 72. The computer system as recited in claim 63, wherein atranscription service is provided with the multimedia presentation,further comprising: at least one computer-readable medium including:code that buffers transcribed text into fragments; code that sends saidfragments to be printed on the at least one printing means; and codethat receives a user's instructions and parameters concerning amultimedia presentation; wherein said synchronizing code synchronizestranscribed text with output on the printing means.
 73. The computersystem as recited in claim 63, further comprising: at least onecomputer-readable medium including: code that displays a video signalfrom a multimedia presentation on at least one display means; and codethat plays an audio signal of the multimedia presentation on at leastone speaker; wherein the at least one display means comprises at leastone of a computer monitor, a television screen, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA) display, and a display in an embedded device.
 74. Thecomputer system as recited in claim 63, wherein the output from saidmultimedia presentation, which is translated into a form compatible withsaid printing means, comprises at least one of: an image, graphic, ordiagram accompanying the multimedia presentation; a form to be filledout by a user in concert with the multimedia presentation; a test to betaken by a user in concert with the multimedia presentation; andmaterial on which a user is to make notations in concert with themultimedia presentation.
 75. The computer system as recited in claim 63,further comprising: at least one computer-readable medium including:code that provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) on a display, saidGUI allowing a user to input control parameters and preferencesconcerning the multimedia presentation. 76-82. (canceled)
 83. The systemas recited in claim 21, further comprising: at least one other printingmeans; wherein the MSM synchronizes transcribed text to be output on theprinting means and the at least one other printing means.
 84. The systemof claim 18, further comprising: a processor running fax software; adisplay means operatively connected to said processor; and a real timemultimedia (RTM) presentation server; wherein said RTM presentationserver receives data output from said multimedia presentation andtranslates it into a format compatible with said fax emulation software.85. The method of claim 40, further comprising the steps of: running faxemulation software on a processor; receiving information concerning adisplay means, said display means operatively connected to saidprocessor; translating the output into a format compatible with the faxemulation software; and maintaining an active connection with the faxemulation software.
 86. The computer system of claim 63, the computersystem further comprising: the at least one computer-readable mediumincluding: code that emulates a fax machine, said emulation includingcode that displays received fax data on a display means; code thatreceives information concerning said display means; code that translatesthe output into a format compatible with the code that emulates a faxmachine; and code that maintains an active connection with the code thatemulates a fax machine.